With a new privacy feature under development, WhatsApp will enable users to encrypt their chat backups with passkeys. Passkeys are digital credentials that replace traditional passwords with biometric information such as fingerprints or facial recognition.

The new passkeys encryption function was initially noticed by Wabetainfo in beta, and the firm continues to work to improve user data security with this feature. WhatsApp does, as of right now, offer end-to-end encryption for backups, letting users safeguard their backup files using a 64-digit encryption key or a custom password. Although these techniques provide a high degree of security, they also put users at danger of losing access to their own data by requiring them to remember complicated passwords or lengthy encryption keys, which is difficult for them to manage.

WhatsApp will now make this procedure simpler with its new passkey function, enabling users to safeguard their backups using their device’s fingerprint, face scan, or screen lock. This eliminates the need for customers to memorise passwords and encryption keys altogether because they will be able to access and recover their encrypted backups using the same biometric technique they use to unlock their phones.

However, the feature is still in beta testing, so it may take a few more weeks before it becomes available to all WhatsApp users. When it becomes accessible, though, it will offer an extra degree of protection for backups that are encrypted from end to end.

WhatsApp is currently developing a new privacy feature that will let users control how their contacts are synced across different devices.

After development is complete, WhatsApp is expected to release this functionality in a new area of the app’s settings, giving users the ability to control how their address book synchronises across all of their accounts. This implies that users will be able to choose whether to keep contact synchronisation enabled for their primary account and disable it for a secondary account. This feature will be especially helpful to people who want to have several contact lists for various uses.

WhatsApp users will still have the ability to manually sync individual contacts even if they want to disable automatic contact syncing. According to Wabetainfo, users will be able to sync particular contacts on demand without syncing their whole address book between devices.